The Mystagogy Resource Center Now Has a Bookstore

Dear Readers:

As some of you may have noticed, yesterday, January 7th, on the feast the Synaxis of Saint John the Baptist, my patron saint and in honor of my Name Day, I launched a bookstore to serve the needs of the Mystagogy Resource Center. I called it Apollos Bookstore after one of the Seventy Apostles, Saint Apollos, whose ministry is explained in Acts 18:24-28. 

In Acts 18 we read how Apollos was an Alexandrian Jew who was "an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures." We also read that he "had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord." What connects Apollos with John the Baptist is that we are informed how when Aquila and Priscilla heard him preaching to the Jews in Ephesus, he had only up until that time known about the baptism of John the Baptist, which was a baptism of repentance, which means that he had not yet known of the baptism of the Holy Spirit through Jesus. After being instructed by Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos went to Corinth, and having received the Holy Spirit, "he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ." When the Apostle Paul afterwards arrived in Ephesus, he found there twelve Jews who had been baptized by Apollos with the baptism of John the Baptist, and had never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Paul therefore instructed them and baptized them in the name of Jesus so that they could receive the Holy Spirit through Paul laying his hands on them.

I named the bookstore after Apollos and placed his icon as its logo because he is a model for any Orthodox Christian ministry and a model for each individual Orthodox Christian striving to educate themselves and others into the unfathomable depths and mysteries of the gospel.

Initially my goal is to publish a new unique booklet on a monthly or bi-monthly basis, and eventually I will be publishing books. Every booklet will be priced at $20 which will cover all expenses and help support the work of the Mystagogy Resource Center. My hope is that these will be an added incentive to support my work.

You can view the new bookstore by clicking on one of the banners on this site or at this link. For now I only have three booklets which I previously offered. You can purchase through Paypal, Venmo or any other major credit card. The covers of the books currently on display are temporary and will be replaced with the right covers soon.

Thank you for all your support and a Blessed New Year to all,

John Sanidopoulos

  

 

Oration on Holy Theophany (St. Proclus of Constantinople)

Oration on Holy Theophany

By Saint Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople

Christ appeared in the world and adorned the joyless world with boundless gladness. He took upon Himself the sin of the world and forever trampled down the enemy of the world. He sanctified the springs of the waters and enlightened the souls of human beings. Wonders were mingled with even greater wonders. 

Today, from the joy brought by our Savior Christ, land and sea were set apart, and from end to end the world was filled with gladness. 

Today’s feast reveals greater miracles than those of the night of the Nativity. For on that night only the earth rejoiced, as it bore upon itself, in the embrace of the manger, the Almighty God. 

Today, however, as we celebrate Theophany, the sea rejoices as well, for through the Jordan it too takes part in the blessing of sanctification.

Our Venerable Father George the Chozebite in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Venerable George was from Cyprus, and his parents were pious Christians. His elder brother, named Heracleides, while their parents were still alive, went to the Holy Land to venerate the holy places, and there he desired to remain as a monk in the Lavra of Kalamon, near the present-day Monastery of Saint Gerasimos of the Jordan. George remained with his parents until they departed this life, after which his uncle took him, together with his inheritance. This uncle had an only daughter and wished to make George his son-in-law. George, however, did not wish to marry and left to go to his other uncle, who was abbot of a monastery. But since the first uncle pressured his brother, the abbot, to allow George to leave the monastery, George departed from there as well and went to his brother Heracleides at the Lavra of Kalamon. Because of his young age, however, his brother led him to the Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos, called Chozeba, which lies in a desolate and wild ravine — where the cave is located in which the Prophet Elijah took refuge when he was pursued by the kings of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel — and which is near the ancient Roman road leading from Jerusalem to Jericho. There George became a monk and lived a strict ascetic monastic life. The fame of his virtue was great, and his holy works instructed many. Finally, he peacefully surrendered his holy soul to God.

Holy Hieromartyr Isidore of Estonia

 

By Lampros K. Skontzos

The Church of Christ is founded upon the confession of Her Saints and watered with the blood of the millions of Martyrs who did not submit to the godless powers of the world, but offered their lives for the saving truth of the Orthodox Faith.

Among them are also Martyrs who were not put to death by pagans, but by the hands of heretics who bore the name of Christ.

To this host belongs the Holy Hieromartyr Isidore of Estonia together with the seventy-two fellow Martyrs who suffered with him, victims of the murderous frenzy of the papal Uniates.

Saint Isidore lived in the fifteenth century and was from Estonia. He was a devout Orthodox presbyter of the parish of Yuryev in Livonia (in today’s Latvia–Estonia region) and was deeply devoted to the one saving Orthodox Faith.

His ministry, however, coincided with particularly grievous times, when the papal Uniates unleashed harsh persecutions against the Orthodox who refused to submit to Papal authority.

Prologue in Sermons: January 8

To Monks Who Love to Move from Place to Place

January 8

(Commemoration of our Venerable Father Elias the Hermit)*

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Some lazy monks say: “How bored I am! If only I were now in such-and-such a monastery, if I were here or there, then I would be refreshed and would become a completely different person.” How should we regard the above words and desires of these monks? We must regard them in this way: these monks, seeking — perhaps without even noticing it — worldly amusements, first forget God; second, from forgetting God they fall into sloth; third, they come under the power of fleshly lust; and fourth, they lose the fear of God. All this we shall now attempt to explain.

The Feast of Lights in Aivali (Photios Kontoglou)

 

 

The Feast of Lights in Aivali 

By Photios Kontoglou

In seaside places they throw the Cross into the sea after the Divine Liturgy of Theophany. That is how they used to do it in my homeland too, and it was a beautiful and strange sight.

The procession would set out from the cathedral. In front went the exapteriga and banners, and after them the priests with the bishop, dressed in their golden vestments — many priests and archimandrites, because the town had twelve churches, and on feast days the smaller parishes would finish the Liturgy quickly and their priests would go to the cathedral, so that the celebration might be more solemn. The chanters were many as well, the best-voiced among them, and they chanted Byzantine — that is, Greek — music with majesty, not like today, when we have gone mad and turned our chanting into tasteless, foreign theatrical songs. Behind them followed a great crowd of people.

When they reached Angelí Beach, as that shore was called, the bishop and the priests would ascend a large wooden platform, beautifully constructed, to perform the Sanctification of the Waters. The people filled the shoreline and climbed wherever they could in order to see. The surrounding houses were packed with spectators. Women burned incense from the windows. On the sea side, there were gathered nearly a hundred caiques and countless small boats, with their prows turned toward the place where the bishop stood. Arrayed in this way, the boats looked like a fleet about to go to war. Farther out toward the open sea, you could see the large caiques anchored, also full of people. Others had encircled the boats near the shore, and they too were crowded — mostly sailors and children.

Synaxis of the Saint John the Baptist in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis 

 

From the earliest times, and by God’s guidance, we have celebrated on the day after the Holy Theophany the Synaxis of the all-holy Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist, Saint John, because he ministered the sacred mystery of divine baptism. This feast is also connected with the other celebrations of Saint John, so that nothing of his miracles is left unspoken.

On this same day, we also remember the translation of the venerable hand of Saint John to the “Queen of Cities,” which occurred as follows: In the city of Sebaste, where it is said that the body of the Forerunner was buried, the Evangelist Luke arrived. He took the right hand of John’s prophetic body and brought it to his own city, Antioch. There, the hand of the Forerunner performed countless miracles, including this remarkable one:

At the outskirts of the city lived a terrible dragon, a huge serpent, which the locals — and the pagans among them — honored with an annual sacrifice. Each year, a Christian was chosen by lot to offer his young daughter to the beast. The dragon would emerge from its lair, gaping with its enormous mouth, and devour its victim with terrifying speed. The father of one chosen girl prayed desperately to God and to the Forerunner, pleading to save his daughter from this cruel death.

The Theophany of the Lord: Homily 3: On the Divine Service on the Feast of the Theophany of the Lord (Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko)

 

1. The Feasts of the Lord

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko 

III. The Theophany of the Lord

Homily No. 3: On the Meaning of the Holy Water of Theophany

I. What is especially remarkable about the feast of Theophany is that on this feast water is sanctified. The Holy Church has used holy water from ancient times, and one may suppose that the sanctification of water began already in apostolic times. Therefore, sanctified water is venerable also by reason of its great antiquity. When we sprinkle ourselves with holy water and use it for various pious purposes, we do what pious Christians of all ages have done.

II. At the same time, it is perfectly true that holy water brings manifold benefit to those who use it properly.

a) Through holy water we receive the grace of God: it awakens in us repentance for our sins and produces true reverence within us. And if you sprinkle yourself with holy water while having a contrite heart, you receive forgiveness of sins. Holy water is also an effective means against all temptations, especially those that come from the devil. Therefore, when temptation comes upon you, and you reverently and with hope partake of a few drops of holy water, having first made the sign of the Cross, you may be assured that God will grant you the grace to overcome temptation and to keep your conscience pure. The devil fears holy water and flees from it. All places that are sprinkled with holy water with faith, hope, and reverence are inaccessible to the evil spirit: he does not dare to approach them.

January: Day 7: Teaching 2: Synaxis of Saint John the Baptist

January: Day 7: Teaching 1:
Synaxis of Saint John the Baptist
 
(The Fate of a Friend of Truth)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. There are extraordinary people. Their manner of acting attracts universal attention. Such people are not always some famous heroes, conquerors, rulers of nations, or writers. We admire people of that sort, and often cannot or need not imitate them. But there are extraordinary people whose manner of acting everyone regards with special respect and in whom they feel an inner impulse to imitate. These are truly great people.

II. Among these truly great people stands out John the Baptist of Christ. In order to attain the great goal appointed to him by God, he did absolutely everything he could. Living in the wilderness until the very years of his full manhood, he labored tirelessly over the spiritual formation of his mind and heart. And so that his labor might more easily be crowned with success, he constantly kept his sensual nature under a very strong restraint. When he had matured — when his mind, his heart, his sensual nature, and his entire activity had received a firm direction in accordance with the law of God — the Lord God sent him to sinful Israel, demanding from it repentance and fruits worthy of repentance. Without delay he undertook the fulfillment of the task entrusted to him and carried it out with all the zeal and wisdom that were necessary and possible. He exposed vices in people of every rank, as the most faithful friend of truth, and demanded correction.